Zeppelin LZ 1

Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin's first rigid airship rose from Lake Constance on July 2, 1900, and stayed up for less than 20 minutes. It flew only three times, but it proved the idea behind every Zeppelin that followed: a rigid frame holding separate gas cells inside a fabric skin, so the ship kept its shape whatever the pressure of the gas. Start here to see how far the design came in the 36 years before the Hindenburg.